Chapter 2.1b: Search Party (Hochoch)

When the family finishes its obeisance at the different altars, they are delighted to meet new Dungeon Busters. The father, Abel Jarl, clearly has the rustic trait of using such hyperbolic praise that a cynic might think it sarcastic. But no, he appear genuine. "Glorious Ladies and Magnificent Sir! It is my utmost honor to be graced with your presence! It is to the Dungeon Busters that we owe the life of our son, Devek! Show honor to the Awesome Ones, Devek!" Devek, a human child of perhaps 10 years of age, tugs at his forelock and falls to his hands and knees. "My thanks, Tremendous Worthies!" Abel introduces his wife, Elista ("May honor forever shine upon you, Golden Ones!"), his pre-teen daughter Abella (she gives a crude curtsy with a "My delight overwhelms me!"), Emiless (a girl somewhat younger than Devek, who sinks to her knees and prostrates herself with "You're brighter than the stars!"), young child Torren (who just falls on his face and murmurs something extravagant into the floor), and toddler Wenderly (who tries to bow but trips and just stares at the three of you with big round eyes). Like many rural folk, the Jarls clearly feel awe (and a little bit of fear) at seeing nobility, and anyone with more than a couple of seals to rub together is nobility. They also clearly have narrowly averted tragedy through the efforts of your fellow Dungeon Busters, and they are absurdly, almost embarrassingly grateful...which may make sense if they haven't experienced anything like that kind of support from powerful people before now.

Hearing the offer of an escort back home, Abel and Elista exchange a quick glance and then smile and bow deeply. "We would be honored!" The kids are very excited to get to stay in town for another night, and the younger ones babble happily at the adventurers as the group makes its way back to the Inn of Eternal Rest. Wonderingly, little Torren asks Arya: "Are you a princess?" and Emiless shyly asks Rosemary "Are you a queen?" Meanwhile the other children are agog at the size of Manthis' immense sword. "I bet you've killed hundreds of giants, High Lord!"

Back at the Inn, Olpert Razorson immediately sees the PR benefit of helping these poor crofters even more. So he calls over Devane Thornhill, the Inn's human proprietor, and bids him to prepare a feast for the Jarl family and the Dungeon Busters in town. His human wife Soraya, the halfling server Tap, and the the doddering ancient elf Cook immediately throw themselves into whipping up a large supper, which arouses the interest of the pretty young human woman that the party briefly saw earlier, Lienne, and her crowd of admirers. Soon more and more people are introducing themselves to the new trio of adventurers:
Thacogygax, a tall dragonborn who speaks only broken Keolish
Xana Beren, a cheerful gnome woman who makes most people uneasy somehow
Sara Stone, a human woman with a massive greatbow
Albertus, a young and somewhat formal human knight, who recognizes and greets the Jarls immediately
Durren Elderblade, a human steeped in Elvish culture who speaks with an affectation of medieval Keolish (think Shakespearean English)
Kragga Moonweaver, a charming and talkative half-orc with an encyclopedic knowledge of many topics
Karliel, a half-elven bard who immediately starts trying to get people drinks and to join him in various choruses of songs
Klak and Morgran, two dwarves who both seem ready to celebrate though they couldn't be more dissimilar otherwise: one is a paladin, the other is a pirate

The celebration continues into the night. The Jarl family is dazed by all the attention, and Abel and Elista are a little embarrassed to be garnering so much attention, though the younger children take it in stride. Manthis performs a sword dance to the delight of the children (and the obvious appraising admiration of Lienne).

The next morning, the many members of Dungeon Busters in Hochoch rise and gather in the Inn of Eternal Rest's courtyard for a briefing with Olpert Razorson. With young children, the Jarl family is already up and dining as the group gathers, but they are eating at a table near the fireplace and Abel and Elista tactfully keep the younger children from getting too close to the gathered heroes. Olpert begins to talk to the thirteen people, but then stops himself. "Durren," he says, addressing the overly formal young man in the archaic armor, "Would you please treat Miss Vereel to a breakfast meal? She's looking a little peaked from lack of sustenance." Durren rises, performs an elaborate bow, and offers Lienne his arm. She takes it, and with many a backward glance, she is escorted back into the Inn's interior.

Olpert shakes his head. "That woman...she seems determined to spy on everything we do." He rubs a hand over his face, and then addresses Arya, Manthis, and Rosemary. "As you just arrived last night, you may not have realized it yet, but Lienne is...a handful." The dwarf Morgran interjects: "Aye, she is that, and a gossip to boot!" There are nods and murmurs of assent from all the others except for the dragonborn Thacogygax, who seems confused. "The woman is a boot...?" Little gnome Xana pats him on his massive, scaled elbow. "I'll explain later." The shaggy half-orc Kragga addresses the three new Dungeon Busters. "One would think that being young, pretty, and charming would be enough for her, but Lienne has realized that she gets even more attention if she can share news. If you want information spread through the whole town, tell Lienne that information in confidence. But if you want to keep a secret, you must never let Lienne know."

Olpert nods. "Thank you for putting it so clearly, Kragga. Now that that - and prying ears - is out of the way, let's get to the day's business. Before I assign tasks, does anyone have any leads for more work?" The collected Dungeon Busters murmur and shake their heads. Sara speaks up: "There's always hunting monsters in the Dim, but no one has asked us to do that, as far as I know." She looks around, and the others all shake their heads. Olpert sighs. "I know you want to form a group to hunt that owlbear, Sara. Right now I want us to focus on jobs where we are seen to be helping people who request our help. I want to start making the transition from heroes...to heroes for hire. It's the only way that we're going to drive business in the long term. I've told you before that I am confident that merchants will hire the Dungeon Busters to kill that beast once regular trade resumes between Hochoch and Orlane. But to get there, we have to help restore trade on Cecily's Road.

"Right now there are two issues we know of that are interfering with trade on the Road: bandit activity, and whatever is going on in Orlane. It's true that no one has hired us to do either of those things, but if we can eliminate those problems, there will be a lot more travel and more business for us. Most of you here have been working on the bandit problem for the past four days, while Reptile, Myrtha, Chase, Theran, and Aanbo went to find out if there's any truth to the rumors about Orlane. Albertus, you've been talking to the prisoners, and you told me something that you discovered last night. Would you tell them what you told me?"